Settling in to life in Ashcroft until the end

Old Man was happy to get settled into our small retirement suite where he is not in charge of lawns or snow-shoveling or repairs.  

We switched doctors from one at the Coast that we used though my sister's address in Chilliwack.  It worked well when we were travelling in the RV a lot as she was his orignal doctor in Ashcroft 10 years ago and actually diagnosed his eye cancer that he thought was a bit of chaff from cutting hay.  We have come full circle.  We have 3 new doctors in the area now, all from South Africa.  So our hospital is working better these days and the emergency entrance is in full swing again.  One more doctor would help give the new young couple some precious date/partner time.  His new doctor hid behind him and didn't want her picture taken, but she is a very lovely East Indian woman of intelligence.  He could understand her accent easily even with his weak hearing, and likes women doctors better than males as he doesn't like men touching him.  He really is old school in other ways.  Poor South Africa is losing a lot of their trained medical people who are showing up all over British Columbia.  

I went with Old Man to the first appointment as we worry about whether he will process all the information.  Sure enough he had questions afterwards about what she had told him.  I walked home down the hill and over the bridge while he drove back to get all his pill bottles to take back for her, so she could analyze his dosages.  I stopped for a few minutes at this bench that is before the bridge.  On the hillside are many Grad students' signs with their year attached.  It is a yearly ritual to put up GRAD 2013 etc after hiking to a new installation spot on the hill.

I am still unpacking boxes and will keep this set of bowls I haven't seen or used for 5 years.  They have lids and were a gift from my sister's kitchen after she died in 2005.  They are cheerful and make me smile everytime I reach for them.  

  I really like these bowls.  There was no way they were going to end up in any of our garage sales.  Can you see the little bowl of yellow liquid beside the microwave in the background?  It is a fruit fly trap.  They are always prolific here at this time of the year.  So we take a little bowl and put in cider vinegar, a few drops of detergent and a bit of water then set it near the worst fly areas.  You may have to do two or three around the smelliest areas.  There are about a hundred dead flies in that wee custard bowl.  The compost heap is full of them.  I hate taking more fodder out to them, but that is one of the trade-offs for having a warm fall.  As soon as we get a few hard frosts they will be gone.  In the meantime they are very annoying.